Thursday, June 25, 2009

The Golden Jubilee is currently the largest faceted diamond in the world. Since 1908, Cullin an I, also known as the Great Star of Africa, had held the title, which changed following the 1985 discovery of a large brown diamond of 755.5 carats (151 g) in the prolific blue ground of the Premier mine in South Africa; the diamond would later be cut to a weight of 545.67 carats .

The Premier mine was also the origin of the Cullin an diamonds in 1905, as well as other notables such as the Taylor-Burton in 1966 and the Centenary in 1986.

The "Unnamed Brown", as the Golden Jubilee was first known, was considered something of an ugly duckling by most. It was given to Gabriel Tsiolkovsky by De Beers for the purpose of testing special tools and cutting methods which had been developed for intended use on the flawless D-color Centenary. These tools and methods had never been tested before, and the "Unnamed Brown" seemed the perfect guinea pig; it would be of no great loss should something go amiss.

To the surprise of all concerned, what resulted was a yellow-brown diamond in a fire rose cushion cut, outweighing Cullin an I by 15.37 carats. The stone remained largely unknown to the outside world, as the Golden Jubilee's sister, the Centenary, had already been selected and promoted to herald De Beer's centennial celebrations in 1988.

The unnamed diamond had earlier been brought to Thailand by the Thai Diamond Manufacturers Association to be exhibited in the Thai Board of Investment Exhibition in Lame Chabang. There was a mile-long queue to see the diamond, which outshone all other exhibits.

While the current whereabouts of the Centenary are unknown, the Golden Jubilee is known to have been purchased from De Beers by a group led by Henry Ho of Thailand in 1995. The diamond was brought to Pope John Paul II in the Vatican to receive the papal blessing. It was also blessed by the Supreme Buddhist Patriarch and the Supreme Imam in Thailand. The Golden Jubilee Diamond (Thai: เพชรกาญจนาภิเษก) was named by King Humboldt Adulyadej and given to him in honor of his 50th coronation anniversary. It was initially planned to mount the Golden Jubilee in the royal scepter. A subsequent plan was to have it mounted in a royal seal.

The Golden Jubilee Diamond has been exhibited at Henry Ho's 59-story Jewelry Trade Center in Bangkok, the Central Department Store in Lard Prao, Thailand, and internationally in Basel (Switzerland), Bolshevism in Omaha, USA . It is now located in the Royal Thai Palace as part of the crown jewels.

The Golden Jubilee of Elizabeth II was the international celebration marking the 50th anniversary of the accession of Queen Elizabeth II to the thrones of seven countries. It was marked with large-scale events throughout London in June 2002, which were book ended by events in the other Commonwealth realms. Despite the death of the Queen's sister and mother Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh; over twelve months, the royal couple journeyed to the Caribbean, Australia, New Zea land, then around the United Kingdom, and wrapped up the jubilee year in Canada. in February and March, respectively, of that same year, Elizabeth attended all of the official events as scheduled, along with her husband,

Predictions were made in the media that the anniversary would be a non-event, and would fail to ignite much response from the public. However, the events proved popular in all the countries in which they took place; even New York City paid tribute to the sovereign on her anniversary. Numerous landmarks, parks, buildings, and the like, were also named in honor of the golden jubilee, official portraits of the Queen were created in Canada and the UK, and a life size, bronze equestrian statue of Elizabeth was unveiled on the grounds of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. As well, commemorative coins and stamps were issued in some of Elizabeth's realms.

The Golden Jubilee is the largest faceted diamond in the world, weighing 545.67 carats. The stone was designed by Gabi Tolkien, who also designed the 273.85-carat Centenary Diamond, which is the largest D-Flawless diamond in the world. The Golden Jubilee was presented to the King of Thailand in 1997 for his Golden Jubilee - the 50th anniversary of his coronation. Prior to this event, the stone was simply known as the Unnamed Brown.

Tsiolkovsky describes the Golden Jubilee's cut as a "fire rose cushion cut." The color has been graded as "fancy yellow-brown", even though the above photo makes it look almost dark orange. It is only 15.37 carats larger than the Cullin an I, also known as the Star of Africa.

Trivia Tidbit: The government of Thailand reported the stone as being a large golden topaz so as not to irritate the citizens -- Thailand has been in financial trouble for some years now, and the news of the purchase of the massive diamond would only make the popularity of the government drop.

Diamonds have no mercy... "They will show up the wearer if they can," says one character in The Sandcastle, an early novel by the famous British author, Iris Murdoch. Now this may be true of some women - usually wearing an outrageously large item of jewelry which imparts a degree of unwholesome vulgarity to themselves - but is it applicable to Elizabeth Taylor? Those well-publicized gifts which she received from her fifth husband, the late Richard Burton, certainly enhance her appearance and do not look out of place on her. A compatibility is established between the jewel and its wearer.

Richard Burton's first jewelry purchase for Elizabeth Taylor was the 33.19-carat Assayer-cut Krupp Diamond, in 1968. This had formerly been part of the estate of Vera Krupp, second wife of the steel magnate Alfred Krupp. Miss Taylor wears this stone in a ring. She has worn it in a number of her post-1968 films. Next came the La Peregrina Pearl for which Burton paid £15,000. The stone has a long and complex history. For Elizabeth's 40th birthday in 1972 Richard Burton gave her a heart-shaped diamond known as the Taj-Mahal. The stone is fairly large and flat, with an Arabic inscription on either side. It is set with rubies and diamonds in a yellow gold rope-pattern necklace. "I would have liked to buy her the Taj-Mahal," he remarked, "but it would cost too much to transport. This diamond has so many carats, its almost a turnip." Then he added, "Diamonds are an investment. When people no longer want to see Liz and I on the screen, then we can sell off a few baubles."

The Taylor-Burton Diamond

By the far the best known of Richard Burton's purchases was the 69.42-carat pear-shape, later to be called the Taylor-Burton Diamond. It was cut from a rough stone weighing 240.80 carats found in the Premier Mine in 1966 and subsequently bought by Harry Winston. Here there is a coincidence: Eight years before, another cleavage of almost identical weight 240.74 carats had been found in the Premier. Harry Winston bought this stone too, commenting at the time, "I don't think there have been half a dozen stones in the world of this quality." This wouldn't be the first time the Premier Mine would have the last word because the 69.42-carat gem cut from the later discovery is a D-color Flawless stone.

After the rough piece of 240.80 carats arrived in New York, Harry Winston and his cleaver, Pastor Colon Jr. studied it for six months. Markings were made, erased and redrawn to show where the stone could be cleaved. There came the day appointed for the cleaving, and in this instance the usual tension that surrounds such an operation was increased by the heat and glare of the television lights that had been allowed into the workroom. After he had cleaved the stone, the 50-year-old cleaver said nothing -- he reached across the workbench for the piece of diamond that had seperated from it and looked at it through his horn-rimmed glasses for a fraction of a second before exclaiming "Beautiful!" This piece of rough weighed 78 carats was expected to yield a stone of about 24 carats, while the large piece, weighing 162 carats, was destined to produce a pear shape whose weight had originally been expected to be about 75 carats.

Elizabeth Taylor wearing the Taylor-Burton Diamond in a necklace

The stone's first owner after Harry Winston wasn't actually Elizabeth Taylor. In 1967 Winston sold the pear shape to Mrs. Harriet Ehrenberg Ames, the sister of Walter Ehrenberg, the American ambassador in London during the Richard Nixon administration. Two years later, she sent the diamond to Parke-Bernet Galleries in New York to be auctioned explaining her decision with this statement: "I found myself positively cringing and keeping my gloves on for fear it would have been seen, I have always been an extremely gregarious person and I did not enjoy that feeling. It sat in a bank vault for years. It seemed foolish to keep it if one could not use it. As things are in New York one could not possibly wear it publicly." One might argue the stone was too large to be worn in a ring, let alone in public.

The diamond was put up for auction on October 23rd, 1969, on the understanding that it could be named by the buyer. Before the sale speculation was prevailing as to who was going to bid for the gem, with the usual international names being kicked around by the columnists. Elizabeth Taylor was one name among them and she did indeed have a preview of the diamond when it was flown to Switzerland for her to have a look at, then back to NYC under precautions described as "unusual".

The auctioneer began the bidding by asking if anyone would offer $200,000, at which the crowded room erupted with a simultaneous "Yes". Bidding began to climb, and with nine bidders active, rushed to $500,000. At $500,000 the individual bids increased in $10,000 increments. At $650,000 only two bidders remained. When the bidding reached $1,000,000, Al Juggler of Frank Pollack, who was representing Richard Burton, dropped out. Pandemonium broke out when the hammer fell and everyone in the room stood up, resulting in the auctioneer not being able to identify who won, and he had to call for order. The winner was Robert Kenmore, the Chairman of the Board of Kenmore Corporation, the owners of Cartier Inc., who paid the record price of $1,050,000 for the gem, which he promptly named the 'Cartier'. The previous record for a jewel had been $305,000 for a diamond necklace from the Rovensky estate in 1957. A diamond, known as the Rovensky (actually thought to possibly be the Excelsior III Diamond), attached to the necklace weighed approximately 46.50 carats. It appeared in an article about diamonds in the April 1958 issue of National Geographic magazine, along with the Niarchos,Tiffany Yellow. Nepal, and

As well as Richard Burton, Harry Winston had also been an under-bidder at the sale. But Burton was not finished yet and was determined to acquire the diamond. So, speaking from a pay-phone of a well-known hotel in southern England, he spoke to Mr. Kenmore's agent. Sandwiched between the lounge bar and the saloon, Burton negotiated for the gem while continually dropping coins into the phone. Patrons quietly sipping their drinks would have heard the actor's loud tones exclaiming "I don't care how much it is; go and buy it." In the end Robert Kenmore agreed to sell it, but on the condition that Cartier was able to display it, by now named the Taylor-Burton, in New York and Chicago.

More than 6000 people a day flocked to Carter's New York store to see the Taylor-Burton, the crowds stretching down the block. But an article in the New York Times was distinctly sour on the subject. Under the headline of 'The Million Dollar Diamond' appeared the following comment:

Shortly afterward on November 12th, Miss Taylor wore the Taylor-Burton in public for the first time when she attended Princess Grace's 40th birthday party in Monaco. It was flown from New York to Nice, Italy in the company of two armed guards hired by Burton and Cartier. In 1978, following her divorce from Richard Burton, Miss Taylor announced that she was putting the diamond up for sale and was planning to use part of the proceeds to build a hospital in Botswana. In June of 1979 Henry Lambert, the New York jeweler, stated that he had bought the Taylor-Burton Diamond for $5,000,000.

By December he had sold the stone to its present owner, Robert Mouawad. Soon after, Mr. Mouawad had the stone slightly recut and it now weighs 68.09 carats. Before the recutting, the curved half of the stone's girdle had a very round outline, it is now a little more straight at that end. It also had a small culet, which was made even smaller after the recut.

The Steinmetz Pink is a diamond weighing 59.60 carats, rated in color as Fancy Vivid Pink by the Gemological Institute of America. The Steinmetz Pink is the largest known diamond having been rated Vivid Pink. As a result of this exceptional rarity, the Steinmetz Group took a cautious 20 months to cut the Pink. It was unveiled in Monaco on May 29 2003, in a public ceremony.

First unveiled in Monaco in May 2003, and briefly worn around the neck of supermodel Helena Christensen, the Steinmetz Pink was discovered in southern Africa and is the largest Fancy Vivid pink diamond known in the world. Pink diamonds are extremely rare and usually found in much smaller sizes. The Steinmetz Pink weighs 59.60 carats. It has been assessed as Internally Flawless, an extremely rare and coveted clarity grade. Given its extraordinary importance, the Steinmetz Group took approximately 20 months to cut the diamond.

Remarking on the size and weight of this extraordinary diamond, TV's "Dharma and Greg" star Jenna Elfman said, "I can feel the beauty on my chest. You can feel the physical vibrations."

The Steinmetz Pink is probably the finest pink diamond in the world presently. It was first unveiled in Monaco in May, 2003, and briefly worn around the neck of supermodel Helena Christensen, the gem was discovered in southern Africa and is the largest Fancy Vivid Pink diamond known in the world. Pink diamonds are extremely rare and usually found in much, much smaller sizes. The Steinmetz Pink weighs 59.60 carats and has been graded as Internally Flawless, an extremely rare and coveted clarity grade. Given its extraordinary importance, the Steinmetz Group took approximately 20 months to cut the diamond. A team of eight people worked on fashioning the gem from the 100-carat rough stone. Fifty models were worked on before the cutting even began. One wrong move and the priceless diamond would have shattered. The gem's facet pattern is very unique: it is an oval mixed cut with a step-cut crown and a brilliant cut pavilion.

In the summer of 2003 the stone featured in an exhibition at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington DC titled The Splendor of Diamonds, which also included the Millennium Star, the Heart of Eternity, the Allnatt, the Pumpkin, the Moussaieff Red and the Ocean Dream. Remarking on the size and weight of this extraordinary diamond, TV star Jenna Elfman said, "I can feel the beauty on my chest. You can feel the physical vibrations."